Striking devices such as hammers have been in use for many years. Such hammer devices or tools include, for example, the standard claw hammers employed for standard household and construction work; the ball-peen hammers employed by tool and die makers, tinsmiths and other metal workers, and the Warrington hammer employed in fine woodworking such as cabinet making. Generally, such prior art devices had stationary heads designed or configured to accomplish the particular work to be performed and handles which were fixedly and non-adjustable attached to the head. Examples of more recent prior art are disclosed in the following U.S. Patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 266,045 discloses a combination hammer, hatchet and nail puller wherein the outer portion of the handle is vertically slidable upon the inner lever portion of the handle so as to serve as a percussion weight to be driven downwardly to drive the nail remover claws into the wood about the nail to be removed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,385,334 discloses a soft head hammer wherein the hammerhead is threadably engaged to the hammer handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,297 discloses a hammerhead mounting which permits replacing of the head and also provides for a key means to prevent rotation of the head.
While the prior art devices have provided improvements in the areas intended, there still exists a great need for a striking device such as a hammer which permits the user to quickly and easily adjust the effective length of the actuating lever to vary the impact and leverage consistent with the desired use.
Accordingly a principal desirable object of the present invention is to provide an improved striking device having an actuating lever which can be readily and easily adjusted to vary the effective length and use of the striking device.
Another desirable object of the present invention is to provide an improved lever handle for hammers and the like tools which can be quickly and effectively lengthened or shortened to vary the impact and leverage of the hammer.
A still further desirable object of the present invention is to provide, in a striking device of the foregoing objects, a locking mechanism for quickly releasably securing the handle member so that the handle length may be quickly and effectively varied, and which is constructed and arranged so that it does not interfere with the grip of the user's hand(s).
These and other desirable objects of the invention will in part appear hereinafter and will in part become apparent after consideration of the specification with reference to the accompanying drawings.